College of Medicine announces first endowed chair

The Central Michigan University College of Medicine has announced its first endowed chair. The Schotanus Family Chair of Pediatrics is held by Dr. Kathleen Meert, who is chair of the pediatrics discipline at the College of Medicine and president of University Pediatricians. She is also pediatric specialist-in-chief at Detroit Medical Center Children's Hospital of Michigan."I am honored to receive the Schotanus Family Endowed Chair of Pediatrics," Meert said. "This endowment advances research, education and practice at the Children's Hospital of Michigan, thereby improving the health and well-being of the children and families we serve."

The Children's Foundation administers the endowment, which was created through an estate gift from Peter and Elizabeth Schotanus.

"We are grateful to the Schotanus family for their generosity and dedication to the health and wellness of children," said Lawrence J. Burns, president and CEO of the Children's Foundation. "Endowments like this create a lasting legacy and provide much-needed benefit to the community for generations to come."

Endowed chairs also are an important way of recognizing and recruiting highly distinguished faculty.

Meert completed medical school at Wayne State University and her pediatric residency and critical care fellowship at the Children's Hospital of Michigan. She has been a principal investigator for the Collaborative Pediatric Critical Care Research Network through the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development since its inception in 2005. The network seeks to reduce morbidity and mortality in pediatric critical illness and injury, and to provide a framework for the development of the scientific basis of pediatric critical care practice.

"A clinician and avid researcher, Dr. Meert is nationally recognized for conducting multicenter clinical trials," said George E. Kikano, CMU vice president for health affairs and dean of the CMU College of Medicine. "In addition, throughout her career, Dr. Meert has mentored many trainees and junior faculty. She is an ideal recipient of the College of Medicine's first endowed chair."

The CMU College of Medicine affiliated with University Pediatricians in 2019. The partnership offers CMU medical students access to a variety of clinical pediatric experiences and approximately 20 pediatric subspecialties that enhance the current depth and breadth of the College of Medicine's medical education program. In 2020, with generous support from the Children's Foundation, CMU, University Pediatricians and the Detroit Medical Center Children's Hospital of Michigan formed the Detroit-based CMU Clinical Research Institute.